Burner ignition system



Aug. 13, 1968 J. F. KERN ET AL BURNER IGNITION SYSTEM Filed Aug. 31, 1966 n \..l. J Q. n m W swhx Q MANN \QN\ ll N\ Q Y 3 w \& mm NW & v

INVENTO 6 255/ 11 Egaw .4PA/01DB i/voezs' Jbbw 0 DAMS Mann's United States Patent 3,397,031 I BURNER IGNITION SYSTEM Joseph F. Kern and Arnold B. Desnoes, Massapequa, and John P. Adams, Amityville, N.Y., assiguors to Puregas Equipment Corp., Copiague, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Aug. 31, 1966, Ser. No. 576,289 5 Claims. (Cl. 431-202) 7 ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An ignition system for gas burners or the like for which the power is taken from the inductive coil of a combustion engine ignition system through a capacitor. The circuit of the burner ignition system is series resonant, with a time constant so adjusted to avoid interference with the sparking action of the engine plug to which it is attached.

This invention relates to an ignition system and'more particularly to such a system especially suitable for use in igniting a combustible mixture, such as gas and air.

In the communications field and in other fields, there are certain applications where an internal combustion engine is used to drive a blower which is part of a ventilating heater, the heat being obtained by burning gas supplied to .a burner mounted thereon. Heretofore, the gas burner has been ignited by a burner ignition coil, this coil being separate and distinct from the spark ignition coil provided for the internal combustion engine. For various reasons, however, which are not of particular interest here, the internal combustion engine is no'longer being provided with a separate burner ignition coil, as was the common practice.

In view of this, efforts have been made to obtain ignition for the gas burner by using the high potential provided by the internal combustion engine ignition coil for the engine spark plug. It was found, however, that when the potential from the internal combustion engine coil was used to ignite the gas burner, the drain on the ignition system was so great that either no sparkwas produced at the engine spark plug, or if one was produced, it was insufiicient to maintain the engine running.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to obtain burner ignition from the ignition system of an internal combustion engine by a suitable means which will not interfere with operation of the engine.

Another object of the invention is to provide a burner ignition system which will fulfill the above object and which is relatively inexpensive.

Still another object of the invention is to enable a burner ignition system to be readily obtained from an ordinary internal combustion engine without the necessity of providing a separate high tension system for burner ignition.

A further object is to provide a burner ignition system which can be quickly and easily connected to a point on the electric ignition system of an internal combustion engine.

A still further object is to provide an electric ignition system for a burner that can be connected to a readily accessible point on an engine ignition system so that the same can be conveniently added to or replaced on engines already in service in the field.

All of the objects, features and advantages of this invention and the manner of attaining them will become more apparent and the invention itself will be best understood by reference to the following description of an embodiment of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, which shows a system or circuit for obtaining burner ignition from the ignition system of an internal combustion engine.

Referring now to the drawing, one form of the inven- 3,397,031 Patented Aug. 13, 1968 tion is shown wherein the electric circuit within the dashed line rectangle 10 comprises a conventional ignition system of the self contained magneto type for operating an internal combustion engine, not shown. This engine ignition system includes breaker points 12 connected across the primary winding 14a of an ignition coil 14, these being opened by rotation of a cam 16 and closed by spring action in well known manner. A capacitor 18 is connected across both the breaker points 12 and the primary winding 14a. A magnet 2.0 is provided with the flywheel for producing a spark, as will be seen. The secondary winding 14b of the ignition coil 14 is connected to a spark plug 22 for igniting the combustible mixture in the engine cylinder. As the engine rotates, the magnet 20 in the flywheel structure induces a current in the primary winding 14a of the ignition coil 14. In accordance with principles long established in the art, as the breaker points 12 open, the low voltage current in the primary winding 14a of the coil 14 induces a high voltage current in the secondary winding 14b, thus causing a spark in the spark plug 22 and igniting the mixture in the cylinder.

7 In accordance with one aspect of this invention, there is provided a resonant circuit comprising a capacitor 24 and an inductor 26 which is arranged to be connected to the top 22a of the internal combustion engine spark plug 22 through an on-olf switch 28. The circuit of this invention further includes means for providing an electric discharge gap such as a spark plug 30, which serves to provide the spark for igniting the gas burner. This spark plug 30 is placed at a suitable location in the region of the gas burner 32 for igniting the mixture of gas and air, as will be known to those skilled in the art. The burner 32 is supplied with gas through a valve 34 from a suitable as supply pipe 36.

When the engine is running and it is desired to ignite the burner 32, it is merely necessary to close the switch 28 and open the gas valve 34. When the switch 28 is closed, the circuit comprising the capacitor 24 and inductor 26 become resonant, causing an electric discharge to be produced across the burner spark plug 30 without interfering with the engine operation. From experimental test data, we have found that the resonant circuit of this invention provides a spark sufiiciently hot so that reliable ignition of the burner is achieved regardless of slight variations in external factors, such as for example the precise location of the plug 30 with respect to the gas-air mixture, the ambient temperature, and others.

It is to be noted that the series circuit of this invention can also be employed to provide a spark discharge in the burner plug 30 even if resonance is not produced. In such event however, the discharge would not be as steady as in the case of resonance and would not provide as reliable a burner ignition.

The burner system may be made automatic by providing, lieu of the manual valve 34 illustrated, a valve that is electrically actuated or opened when the switch 28 is turned on. This eliminates the danger inherent in a delayed closing of the switch 28 after the manual valve 34 has been opened.

While the foregoing description sets forth the principles of the invention in connection with specific apparatus, it is to be understood that the description is made only by way of example and not as a limitation of the scope of the invention as set forth in the objects thereof and in the accompanying claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In combination,

a source of intermittent electric power,

a series circuit resonant to said intermittent power source, including a capacitor element and an inductor element connected in series across said power source,

and means forming an electric discharge gap coupled across one of said elements for providing a spark and a switch.;.connected between said inductor and the discharge across said gap, whereby the spark dishigh potential lead on the engine spark plug for charge can ignite a combustible fluid mixture in the selectively feeding said potential to said inductor, region of said gap; whereby a spark discharge is produced in said burner 2. The invention described in claim 1 wherein said 5 plug to ignite a combustible gas mixture in said burnelectric discharge gap means is connected across said iner without degrading the performance of said ductor element.

engine.

3. The invention described in claim 1 wherein said ReferencesCited source of electric power comprises a high tension voltage. 4. The invention described in claim 2 which further 10 UNITED STATES PATENTS- includes a switch connected between said series circuit 1,755,390 4/1930 Flscher et 17 83 X and said electric power source, 1,955,519 4/1934 'Vawter 123 148 5. In combination with an internal combustion engine 2,129,472 9/1938 7. Lysfiholm et 4 having at least one spark plug, a gas burner having a 2,789,632 4/1957 mf Big-28 burner ignition system comprising 15 3,027,493 3/1962 Smlts a resonant series circuit including a capacitor and 3,166,689 1/1965 Buntenbach T' an inductor for the storage of electric energy therein, 7 312591118 7/1966 Peters. 123-148- said capacitor coupling said inductor to the spark plug 361506 18/1967 Frank 317 96 of said engine, said inductor and capacitor comprising said resonant series circuit, 'BERNARDTAZ GILHEANY Primary Examiner a burner spark plug connected across said inductor, MAYEWSKY, Assistant Examiner. 

